


Don't Speak!

by SpiritMuse



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-16
Updated: 2017-02-16
Packaged: 2018-09-24 23:27:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,140
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9791825
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpiritMuse/pseuds/SpiritMuse
Summary: In order to hide from the Nifs, the group has to hide Noctis' face, Gladio's tattoos, and Ignis' accent.





	

**Author's Note:**

> My first foray into FFXV fanfiction, and my first time writing anything substantial in probably ten years. It's just some silliness. Enjoy. :)

The incident with the Archaean had put them firmly back on the map. The Empire was now fully aware that the crown prince had, in fact, survived the fall of Insomnia. They had locked down the roads out of Duscae and were actively searching for the prince and his retainers.

So in an effort to conceal themselves, the group had shed their black Crownsguard fatigues in favour of a more casual attire. They'd convinced Gladio to wear both a shirt and a jacket to cover his decidedly unsubtle tattoos. His height and the large scar across his face still made him stand out, but there was not much that could be done about that. Noctis wore a casual white T-shirt and a cap to conceal his face. Ignis, for his part, had taken to rarely speaking in public lest he betray his accent.

They were seated at two separate booths at the Crow's Nest, so as not to appear as a group of four - Gladio with Prompto, and Ignis with Noctis in the booth next to them. At the moment, they were the only patrons there.

While the prince was practically inhaling his order of fries, Ignis picked at his more sedately, peering out of the window periodically.

"Relax, Ignis. The Imperials aren't hiding around every corner." Noct looked at him with that slightly exasperated look that meant he thought Ignis was being overly cautious. Ignis hummed noncommittally and returned to looking outside. From the corner of his eye he saw Noct shaking his head and stuffing another fry in his mouth.

Scanning the area outside once more, Ignis suddenly spied a car approaching. It slowed down, turned, and came to a halt in the parking lot across the road. After a moment, its doors opened and two men stepped out, dressed in Imperial uniforms.

"Noct. Take a look outside, if you please," Ignis said quietly. He watched the prince's expression grow serious as he spotted the Imperials.

"What was it you said, again, about Imperials hiding around every corner?" Ignis couldn't resist lightly returning the barb as he casually removed his spectacles. He would have preferred not to, but he knew they would make him as recognizable to the soldiers as the tattoos made Gladio. Spectacles were exceedingly uncommon outside the Crown City, it seemed.

Ignis carefully slid the folded spectacles in the pack around his waist, and casually returned to his food, just as the Imperials entered the diner. He hoped Prompto would keep his wits about him. The boy wasn't always as collected under pressure as the rest of them.

The soldiers wasted no time and headed straight for the man behind the counter. As a tipster, he was expected to know everything about the surrounding area. The presence of any fugitives would be among that information.

"You seen a group of four men wearing black clothes around here recently?" one of the soldiers asked without preamble.

"No, can't say that I have," the tipster replied. Fortunately, most of the people in the Duscaen countryside had no love lost for the Imperials and wouldn't have betrayed the group even if they had seen them. For the moment, anyway. Their luck might change once the blockade started wearing on the populace.

"One of them's a big guy with lots of tattoos," the soldier continued, but the tipster just shook his head. "What about a man with glasses and one of those fancy noble's accents?" the soldier tried once more. As Ignis suspected, he and Gladio were indeed the most recognizable members of their group.

"Sorry, can't help ya," the tipster said, "Haven't seen anyone like that around. Only guy wearin' black around here is Dave, but he's just a hunter, he ain't got tattoos or glasses or an accent or nothin'."

The second soldier turned to Noct and Ignis' table. Ignis noticed Noct's shoulders tense slightly, and did his best to hide his own nerves, though not too much. Acting in too casual a manner might also be suspicious. It was natural, after all, for people to be at least somewhat nervous when interrogated by Imperial soldiers.

"What about you two?" the soldier asked sternly, "Have you seen a group of four men dressed in black?"

Ignis and Noct exchanged glances. They both knew Ignis' accent would instantly make them suspicious.

"No, we haven't," Noct said, trying to sound casual.

"Are you sure?" the soldier wasn't letting up.

"Yeah, pretty sure," Noct said, trying to sound casual.

"Where are you guys from? What are you all the way out here for?" The soldier directed this to Ignis.

"Uh, well, we're-" Noct tried to answer, but the soldier interrupted him.

"I'm not asking you, I'm asking him," the soldier indicated Ignis.

Noct froze. There was no way out now, Ignis would have to answer.

Ignis sighed inwardly. There were no other options left. He steeled himself for the inevitable reaction, opened his mouth, and spoke.

"Well, we were plannin' to go out to Galdin Quay," drawled Ignis in a flawless Lucian accent, ignoring the way Noct's eyebrows raised practically all the way to his hairline, "but with all those blockades restrictin' travel we can't get there anymore. So now we're just gonna go back to Lestallum."

The soldier just nodded.

"I hope you catch those bastards fast," Ignis added for good measure, doing his best to sound disgruntled.

"Alright, thank you. Have a good day," the soldier said as he followed his comrade outside. Noct opened his mouth to say something and Ignis shot him a stern look. Noct's mouth closed again without a sound. Ignis desperately hoped Gladio and especially Prompto would have the good sense to not say anything either until the soldiers had left the area. He could practically hear the boy bouncing with the barely contained urge to make fun of Ignis. And as sure as the night brought daemons, the minute the soldiers drove off in their car Prompto's head popped up beside him.

"Dude, Ignis, what was that?" Prompto laughed, hanging across the back of the bench he'd been sitting on.

"A Lucian accent," Ignis replied dryly as he carefully retrieved his spectacles from his pack, and pulled out a soft cloth to clean them.

"Yeah but, how? Why?"

Ignis turned his head slightly towards Prompto and raised an eyebrow.

"I was born and raised in the Crown City. Did you really believe I would not be capable of affecting one if necessary?"

"Well... I mean..." Prompto faltered, "Huh, I guess I never thought about that." He grinned again.

"I've never heard you talk like that before." Noct looked far too amused.

"Actually, you probably have," Ignis corrected him, "though you were too young to remember."

"Wait, you used to talk like that?"

Immediately Ignis regretted his words. Prompto would surely never let it go now.

"Only when I was very young," he hastened to add in an attempt to control the damage, "Once I came to stay at the Citadel I was taught the Court Speech and I've used it ever since."

"Huh, so that's a learned accent?" Prompto said, "I guess that makes sense. Always wondered why so many royals spoke like that and Noct didn't."

"Noct is actually supposed to use it too," Ignis attempted to deflect, "but I've long given up on trying to convince him to." One of the reasons he had so consistently used it during their youth was to set an example for Noct, and after that it had become so ingrained it was as if he'd never spoken any other way.

"Wow, I can't even imagine what that would sound like!" Prompto laughed.

"About as weird as hearing Specs talk without it," Noct said and shook his head, "Didn't sound like you at all."

"I do believe that was rather the point," Ignis said primly, and angled his spectacles so that the light reflected in the lenses and he could properly judge his handiwork.

"But if you could do that all along," Prompto interjected, "why didn't you do it earlier?"

"Yeah," Gladio added from beside the booth, "It would have been a hell of a lot easier than trying to get around with you not talking at all." He was leaning on the backrest of the bench. Ignis had no idea how long he'd been there.

"I prefer not to," Ignis said simply, and finally returned his newly-clean spectacles to their rightful place.

"Come on, do it again!" Prompto grinned mischievously. And there it was. Ignis sighed inwardly. He would likely never hear the end of this.

"No."

"Aw, come on, Iggy, it was awesome!"

"No."

"Aw, you're no fun," Prompto lamented, not for the first time. "Noct, you ask him!" he added as if Noctis had any more authority over Ignis than he had. In some ways the prince did, of course, but not in these matters.

Fortunately, the prince had some sense and merely chuckled in reply.

"I could try, but if there's one thing I've learned about Specs in all these years it's that you can't make him do something he really doesn't want to."

"I take this to mean we've all finished eating, then?" Ignis judged it best to derail this line of conversation as soon as possible.

"Oh, yeah, I'm done. They've got some gooood food in here," Prompto sighed.

"They really do," Noct agreed.

"If somewhat less healthy than I would prefer," Ignis remarked. Thankfully, Prompto appeared to have taken the bait. Maybe he would forget about the incident altogether. Ignis could only hope.

Gladio laughed. "Oh come on Iggy, we can eat junk food every once in a while!"

"As long as it's no more than every once in a while, I suppose there's little enough harm," Ignis conceded mildly.

"Woohoo!" Prompto exclaimed, far too enthusiastically for Ignis' liking.

Ignis took Noctis' empty plate and stacked it on top of his own. It wasn't really necessary, as the server behind the counter was responsible for cleaning up the tables, but he did it anyway. Force of habit.

"Alright, time to get out of here," Gladio said energetically, "Come on, Prompto!"

"On my way!" Prompto clambered off his seat behind Ignis and followed Gladio out the door.

Ignis slid nimbly out of the booth, and found Noctis standing there, arms crossed lightly, looking at him with an amused expression.

"Even after all this time, there are still things I don't know about you," he said.

"As it should be," Ignis smiled enigmatically.

Noct chuckled. "So what other unexpected skills are you hiding?"

"Should they ever become necessary, maybe one day you'll find out," Ignis easily teased his childhood friend.

Noct mildly rolled his eyes as he smiled, and went outside to join the other two. Ignis lingered a moment and looked back at the tipster behind the counter. If the man hadn't already known who they were, he was certain to now. The tipster caught him looking.

"Don't you worry. I knew who y'all were the moment you stepped in here. Your secret's safe with me," he said.

"My thanks," Ignis replied with a slight bow, "If there's anything we can do," he offered.

"Just be sure to come back for some food and huntin' every now and again," the man said pleasantly.

"Of course."

"And give them Nifs what-for when you get the chance!"

Ignis smiled, "We'll be sure to do that, too."

"That was a mighty fine show you gave there, by the way. If I didn't know better, I'd say that was your real accent," chuckled the man.

Ignis couldn't help but smile at the compliment. He hadn't used the accent in many years, it felt utterly foreign and uncomfortable and just plain _wrong_ in his mouth, but he was glad to know it had still been as convincing as he'd hoped. He also hoped his friends wouldn't hold it over his head for too long.

"Well, you take care out there now," said the tipster.

"We will," Ignis replied with a courteous nod, and finally he too walked out the door.

He was welcomed by the sight of Prompto taking photos while Gladio was stood in an utterly ridiculous pose behind a confused looking Noctis. No talk of accents, mercifully.

"Hey Iggy, what took you so long?" Gladio called out to him.

"Just making sure our secrets are safe."

"And are they?" Noct asked.

"Of course."

Prompto finished fiddling with his camera and grinned widely.

"Man, I just can't get over hearing you talk like that," he laughed.

Oh, bollocks.

"Can you do it again?"

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"Pretty please with a chocobo on top?"

"No."

"Aw man..." Prompto sighed loudly. "You know, sometimes I wish my camera would record sound too and not just pictures."

Ignis, for his part, was rather glad it couldn't.


End file.
